


The Crab Who Rescued The Moon

by WhiteRoseRed



Series: RedRoseWhite's Twitfic Fairytales [6]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, RedRoseWhite's Twitfic Fairytales, fairytale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:01:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26057632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteRoseRed/pseuds/WhiteRoseRed
Summary: The moon disappears, and an old crab brings it back.Sixth in a series of fairytales written on Twitter, then collected on AO3.
Series: RedRoseWhite's Twitfic Fairytales [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1888828
Kudos: 2





	The Crab Who Rescued The Moon

[](https://imgbb.com/)

Years ago, a giant fish jumped from the sea and swallowed the moon. The dark of night went on and on. The cows in the field bumped into the fences and lovers were plunged into pitch black. Only the bats could find their way.

Dawn came, seeping slowly over the horizon, illuminating the world, but when it was time for the sun to set, the perfect darkness was back. "Have we been cursed?" The villagers asked the priest. "All things that happen are willed by God," he replied, and thought no more of it.  
The moon sat in the belly of the fish, at the bottom of the sea. She longed to be in the sky again among her sisters the stars. She wished to gather the waters, then let them rush away when the time was right. She missed seeing the starfish wave hello from the tide pools.

The starfish missed her, too. "Where is the moon?" They asked the sea cucumbers and the barnacles. "Why is there no tide? Have we been cursed? Will we die?" An old crab hobbled past, his claws waving above his eye-stalks. "A fish has swallowed the moon," he told them gruffly.

"What can we do?" The starfish asked as one. "Nothing," Said the crab. "The fish lives beyond these shallows. But I might be able to lure him." And with that, he scuttled away sideways, plopping into the brine and making his way to the deeps, where the moon-bloated fish slept.

"I see you have eaten one moon," Said the crab, lifting the fish's eyelid with one claw. "But I know where you may have many moons to eat." The fish, quite proud of having the moon in his belly, found this proposal the most enticing of his life. "Follow me," said the crab.

He skittered sideways towards the shallows and the tidepools, with an eyestalk on the silvering sky. Soon, the fishermen would be casting their nets in the first rays of morning sun. The crab guided the fish to the oyster field, where dozens of oysters had opened at his behest.

Many tiny moons laid there for the fish, pearl upon pearl. His eyes widened with greed and he darted towards his prize, only to be snared in the first fisherman's net and hauled to the deck. When the fish was cleaned, the moon leapt from its belly and soared on the back of a gull to her place in the heavens. She kissed her sister the sun, relieved to be free, and promised to visit often. And that is why, on a clear day, you can still see the moon in the sky.

**Author's Note:**

> I like to imagine that they are the stories that the original character Cerryn from my Star Wars fic, [Sweetness](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23748004/chapters/57035197), would have in the books in her room.


End file.
